Gower Super Cali.......!

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flyangus

flyangus

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This arrived in the post on Saturday morning!! :thumbsup:

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It's a '79 (I think!) JMP which has given Dan a few sleepless nights over the past few weeks!! Hence the "Super" Cali! :lol: :LOL: It has the Cali mod but with extras.. :thumbsup:

So, Cali mod + Loop + Line Out + Hair Switch + Dual Footswitchable Master Volumes + Assignable Loop to Master Volume + Footswitchable Gain 1 or Gain 2 boost. All shoehorned into a JMP!! :rock:

Dan was in the middle of working on this for me when I called him and put spanner in the works! Basically, I found out that I had a gig in 7 days time and could Dan get it to me by the end of the week! :scared: :shocked: Anyway, needless to say Dan pulled out the stops and had it here on Saturday morning and I had the gig that night!

Everything worked right out of the box, no issues whatsoever. I managed to get all the switching working straight away along with the loop so I could program a few patches for the gig. I tweaked the levels into the Eventide and the loop was sorted (fantastic sounding loop with NO GROUND HUM!!), spent about 30 minutes trying different gain switch and saturation switch positions and I was ready to gig. I set up a rhythm channel with a touch of reverb and a separate one with delay and a couple of lead patches, one with the gain boost off one with it on.

Here's a photo of 2 Gower Cali's during soundcheck:
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Fast forward to the gig: We opened with "Rock 'n'Roll Damnation", when we all kicked in with the first bar the guitar sound was just outstanding (I should point out that our Singer/Rhythm guitarist has a Gower Cali as well!!! :rock: ) really great authentic AC/DC tones but with more snarl and attitude and that was without any really high gain settings. One of the first things I noticed in the band setting was that I could actually hear everything I was playing without taking anyones head off with the volume, the other thing that stood out was that I could hear the bass player more clearly as well. The voicing was absolutely perfect in the band, no fighting with the bass drum or bass player, the low end was certainly there but didn't fight with anything else.


Lead breaks were a breeze, the amp is so easy to play that I was playing things I don't normally do live, the amp felt more like an extension of the guitar - everything really felt like it was in harmony. I did a couple of breaks where I cleaned up the guitar during a lead and I was concerned that I'd need some practice to find the sweet spot, but it sounded just great - still touch sensitive, plenty of highs and still easy to play. I also had a patch that kicked in the gain boost for some high gain lead shred-ish stuff (I know, I know but I only do a little bit - honest!) The boost added extra gain and some low end and sounded great and it just about played itself!

After the gig we had loads of compliments on the tone with a few people saying it was the best sounding gig we've ever done, one guy even said the lead breaks made the hair on the back of his neck stand up! (He meant the tone not my playing though! :lol: :LOL: ) This was also the first time I can remember doing a gig from start to finish without tweaking a single thing on the amp!

Yesterday was the first time I got to try the high gain sounds and the "Hair Switch". The high gain sounds are truly KILLER!! Like the modded Marshall sounds we've heard on records in the past but only much better - just more of everything! A great 'snap' to picked leads, loads of sustain and NO HUM and very little hiss considering how much gain there is. The EQ has a good sweep and the midrange is centered just right (IMO), the bright switches and dual gain pots have loads of tones in there although I've not had time to run though everything yet by a long shot. The 'Hair Switch' did exactly what I hoped it would - it adds extra bite and aggression in the vein of Lynch and Nuno, I can see this staying in the 'ON' position a lot!

Well, I've had a few great amps in the past but this really stands out for me. I know its very early in the Honeymoon period but having said that I usually get a pretty good idea for how I feel about an amp fairly quickly. Usually by now I have found the weak points, but so far I haven't found any.

Anyway, a great THANKS to Dan for putting up with my "Do you think you could........." and " Hey whatabout........" :lol: :LOL: and taking the time to do this fantastic mod. :rawk: I can't praise Dan highly enough, excellent workmanship, attention to detail and taking the time to work out how to get my 'ideas' to work! It was a pleasure to deal with Dan from start to finish.

I know I don't have clips yet but hey...... :lol: :LOL:
 
I will admit that I scrolled right to the bottom for the clip but it was like getting a kiss on the cheek after the date :cry: :lol: :LOL:

Very cool Angus, man I know by listening to you for years you are going to rip on that amp. Coming from you that is some pretty high praise for Dan and Mike's work :yes:

Enough of the bro bro ass slapping, I want to hear your sexified playing now!!!!!!!

Congrats Angus and Dan!
 
YEEESSSS!!!!!

Cudos to you AND to Dan in building his Empire!! I love it!!

Now we need some clips!!! :rock:
 
Awesome and congratulations on a killer amp mod! I love my Cali mod. It does everything I want. I have a smile on my face every time I play it. Can't wait to hear your clips! :rock:
 
Digital Jams":23uz1y6b said:
I will admit that I scrolled right to the bottom for the clip but it was like getting a kiss on the cheek after the date :cry: :lol: :LOL:

Very cool Angus, man I know by listening to you for years you are going to rip on that amp. Coming from you that is some pretty high praise for Dan and Mike's work :yes:

Enough of the bro bro ass slapping, I want to hear your sexified playing now!!!!!!!

Congrats Angus and Dan!



:lol: :LOL:

Yer a hoot Scott!! :D

It's a great amp, and I owe some thanks to the guys that recommended it too ;)

I hope I can get some clips up soon, I've got my mic stand back now so who knows! :lol: :LOL: The only way I can do a vid would be with an iPhone but I can't imagine the on board mic is any good :confused:
 
Thanks very much for the kind words Angus and thanks for posting up a great review :) :rock:

That amp was a fun build, it has a lot of stuff going on in there but it all worked out really well. It sounded killer when you were playing it the other night, and that was only over the phone. So i bet it will sound huge when you put a mic infront and record it :D :thumbsup:
 
Thanks for the replies guys :)

I'll try and record it sometime soon, with any luck I'll manage to knock something up over the weekend :doh: :rock:
 
flyangus":3c8si8id said:
Thanks for the replies guys :)

I'll try and record it sometime soon, with any luck I'll manage to knock something up over the weekend :doh: :rock:
Are we talking guitars or Women here? I'm confused lol :D

:lol: :LOL:
 
Gainfreak":bjcqx4wu said:
flyangus":bjcqx4wu said:
Thanks for the replies guys :)

I'll try and record it sometime soon, with any luck I'll manage to knock something up over the weekend :doh: :rock:
Are we talking guitars or Women here? I'm confused lol :D

:lol: :LOL:


:lol: :LOL: :lol: :LOL:

If it was 1988 it could have been both!! :cheers: :lol: :LOL:
 
flyangus":sxhbx3ho said:
Gainfreak":sxhbx3ho said:
flyangus":sxhbx3ho said:
Thanks for the replies guys :)

I'll try and record it sometime soon, with any luck I'll manage to knock something up over the weekend :doh: :rock:
Are we talking guitars or Women here? I'm confused lol :D

:lol: :LOL:


:lol: :LOL: :lol: :LOL:

If it was 1988 it could have been both!! :cheers: :lol: :LOL:

You mean it's not 1988? Damn!! :hys:

:cheers:
 
Gainfreak":2y9vlvaj said:
flyangus":2y9vlvaj said:
Gainfreak":2y9vlvaj said:
flyangus":2y9vlvaj said:
Thanks for the replies guys :)

I'll try and record it sometime soon, with any luck I'll manage to knock something up over the weekend :doh: :rock:
Are we talking guitars or Women here? I'm confused lol :D

:lol: :LOL:


:lol: :LOL: :lol: :LOL:

If it was 1988 it could have been both!! :cheers: :lol: :LOL:

You mean it's not 1988? Damn!! :hys:

:cheers:

:D


Well, at least its '89.....................isn't it? :confused:



:rawk:
 
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